The Great Encyclopedia of Taoism

Tu Tan Zhai 涂炭斋 — The Taoist Penitential Retreat of Mud and Ashes

Tu Tan Zhai 涂炭斋 — The Taoist Penitential Retrea...

Paul Peng

Tu Tan Zhai 涂炭斋 is the most physically demanding penitential retreat in the Taoist tradition — 36 days across three primordials, performed outdoors with yellow earth smeared on the forehead,...

Tu Tan Zhai 涂炭斋 — The Taoist Penitential Retrea...

Paul Peng

Tu Tan Zhai 涂炭斋 is the most physically demanding penitential retreat in the Taoist tradition — 36 days across three primordials, performed outdoors with yellow earth smeared on the forehead,...

She Gong Xu 设供虚 — The Taoist Rite of Setting Offerings for the Absent

She Gong Xu 设供虚 — The Taoist Rite of Setting Of...

Paul Peng

She Gong Xu 设供虚 is a Taoist ritual act of setting offerings for an absent or unseen presence — a deity, an ancestor, or a wandering soul — through the...

She Gong Xu 设供虚 — The Taoist Rite of Setting Of...

Paul Peng

She Gong Xu 设供虚 is a Taoist ritual act of setting offerings for an absent or unseen presence — a deity, an ancestor, or a wandering soul — through the...

Cheng Fu Zhai 成福斋 — The Taoist Retreat Observed on the First Day of the Tenth Month

Cheng Fu Zhai 成福斋 — The Taoist Retreat Observed...

Paul Peng

Cheng Fu Zhai 成福斋 is a Taoist purification retreat observed on the first day of the tenth lunar month — the same date as the traditional Cold Clothes Festival —...

Cheng Fu Zhai 成福斋 — The Taoist Retreat Observed...

Paul Peng

Cheng Fu Zhai 成福斋 is a Taoist purification retreat observed on the first day of the tenth lunar month — the same date as the traditional Cold Clothes Festival —...

Bai Fu Zhai 百福斋 — The Taoist Retreat of a Hundred Blessings, Observed on the La Day

Bai Fu Zhai 百福斋 — The Taoist Retreat of a Hundr...

Paul Peng

Bai Fu Zhai 百福斋 is a Taoist purification retreat observed on the La Day of the twelfth lunar month — later fixed as the eighth day, coinciding with the Laba...

Bai Fu Zhai 百福斋 — The Taoist Retreat of a Hundr...

Paul Peng

Bai Fu Zhai 百福斋 is a Taoist purification retreat observed on the La Day of the twelfth lunar month — later fixed as the eighth day, coinciding with the Laba...

Wu Lian Zhai 五炼斋 — The Taoist Retreat of Fivefold Refinement and Soul Deliverance

Wu Lian Zhai 五炼斋 — The Taoist Retreat of Fivefo...

Paul Peng

Wu Lian Zhai 五炼斋 is a Taoist purification retreat of fivefold refinement, documented in the Yunji Qiqian and the Zhengtong Daozang. Oriented toward the 炼化 (refinement) of body and soul,...

Wu Lian Zhai 五炼斋 — The Taoist Retreat of Fivefo...

Paul Peng

Wu Lian Zhai 五炼斋 is a Taoist purification retreat of fivefold refinement, documented in the Yunji Qiqian and the Zhengtong Daozang. Oriented toward the 炼化 (refinement) of body and soul,...

Hou Wang La 侯王腊 — The Fifth Taoist La Day and the Year’s Final Sacred Threshold

Hou Wang La 侯王腊 — The Fifth Taoist La Day and t...

Paul Peng

Hou Wang La 侯王腊 is the fifth of the Five Taoist La Days, observed on the first day of the twelfth lunar month. On this day practitioners set pure offerings,...

Hou Wang La 侯王腊 — The Fifth Taoist La Day and t...

Paul Peng

Hou Wang La 侯王腊 is the fifth of the Five Taoist La Days, observed on the first day of the twelfth lunar month. On this day practitioners set pure offerings,...